The Principal Speeches and Addresses of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort

Published in 1862, this collection of speeches illuminates Prince Albert's role in British public and political life.

Initially faced with popular mistrust, by the end of his life Prince Albert (1819–61) had become a respected figure recognised for his important contribution to British public and political life. This collection of speeches, edited by Sir Arthur Helps (1813–75) and published in 1862, illuminates the Prince's wide-ranging role.Initially faced with popular mistrust, Prince Albert (1819–61) fought hard to establish his own role both in public and in his marriage to Queen Victoria. Before he died, he came to be recognised as an influential figure in a kind of dual monarchy, acting as an intermediary with prime ministers and orchestrating the hugely complicated but ultimately successful Great Exhibition of 1851. This collection of speeches, edited by Sir Arthur Helps (1813–75) and published in 1862, was compiled at the request of the widowed Victoria. The speeches reflect the Prince's standing in public life and his unusual position as a consort who was afforded wide-ranging responsibilities. Clerk of the Privy Council, Helps had known Albert personally and his introduction provides an overwhelmingly positive character sketch. Official biographer Theodore Martin's five-volume Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort (1875–80) is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.